Date Published: 05/20/10

Sultan cautions CBN on Bank Reforms

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammed Sa’ad Abubakar III, has advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to tread cautiously with ongoing banking reforms, saying Nigeria's problems should not be blown "out of proportion”, just as CBN said the code of corporate governance which stipulates that non-executive directors of banks could serve for a maximum of four years of three terms is still valid, contrary to reports that it is a two-year tenure renewable once.
Besides, the Bankers' Committee resolved to expunge the two per cent loan provisioning requirement from the Prudential Guidelines, given the current economic realities .
The Sultan’s comments is coming less than two months after the National Security Adviser (NSA) to President Goodluck Jonathan Alhaji  Mohammed Gusau, said the reforms had paralysed the Nigerian economy.
Abubakar spoke during a courtesy call on him at his palace by the management of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as part of its public enlightenment workshop in the state.
He acknowledged that banking reforms are good for the economy.
He however, insisted that there are better ways the CBN could have handled it without causing more problems for the country, particularly in the area of security.
“We commend the CBN for embarking on the reforms but we should not blow our problems out of proportion," said the Sultan.
He continued: "We know that banking reforms is needed and is good but we should not blow it out of proportion. When we do that, we are exposing our economy to the outside world. And if our economy is exposed, it affects the security of the country. When the economy is bad it will lead to vices that create insecurity in the system. We can go ahead and recapitalise the banks but there are better ways to handle it.”
CBN had fired the executive management of eight of the 24 banks in the country last August and October, having found the institutions to be in grave condition after a Special Audit jointly conducted by the apex bank and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).
Consequently, the CBN provided N620 billion ($3.9 billion) in liquidity and loan support to the eight institutions, stressing that lax management had left the banks undercapitalised.
These institutions had since been taken over by CBN appointed managements, which had been running the banks as going concerns until new investors are found to recapitalise them. Justifying its action, the CBN said that the total non-performing loans (NPLs) of the eight banks were N1.524 trillion. The amount, it pointed out, represented 60.75 per cent of the industry’s total NPLs.
Given the provisions for bad loans, which the rescued banks and other banks were compelled to make by the apex bank, banks have since shut their doors to borrowers.
Abubaker also called on the banks in Nigeria to play their traditional role of making credit available for the growth and development of the nation’s economy. He argued that banks  have abandoned their core banking functions and are engaging in direct trading and other activities to the detriment of the economy.
“The banks are not playing their developmental role; they are engaging in other activities and declaring billions of naira paper profit. They should concentrate on their core businesses and help to grow the economy, which will on the long run lead to more patronage of the banks by more people,” he said.
Speaking on the capital market, he said that government must create the necessary environment and empower Nigerians to save and be able to patronise the market. He therefore suggested higher pay packages as the best way to help savings and eventual investments in the capital market.
Abubakar noted that the job of the SEC DG, Ms. Arunma Oteh, is a tough one given the economic situation of the country. But he expressed confidence in  her and the entire  management  to  deliver results given her wealth of experience.
“I know you have a big challenge on your hands. But I have confidence in you because I followed your appointment and this is the time to prove  your critics wrong  and justify the government that saw your qualities and brought  you back home to make your contributions to the growth of Nigeria,” he said.
Oteh had earlier told the Sultan that SEC was in Sokoto for a public enlightenment programme and the launching of Capital Market Clubs (CMCs) in secondary schools. She said since the level of awareness about the capital market is still very low, the commission decided to introduce the market to students at the secondary school level in order to catch them young.
The SEC boss said that the capital market club would be launched in secondary schools throughout the 36 states of the federation and Abuja. She added that Kano was the first place to be visited in this regard, last March.
Meanwhile, the Director of Banking Supervision at the CBN, Mr. Sam Oni, clarified the tenure for bank directors at the end of the Bankers’ Committee meeting in Abuja.
He said that the tenure as defined in the code of corporate governance is a maximum of four years of a cumulative three terms.
Oni said there would be a continuous assessment of the performance of the directors as clearly stated in the code, and would be done after every two or three years.
He thereby clarified reports credited to the CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi, last weekend that bank directors could be appointed onto bank boards for a maximum of two years  and  renewed once.
The clarification came as banks said they have agreed with the  CBN to remove the mandatory  two per cent provisioning requirement for gross total loans  for commercial banks with the condition that the banks had cleaned up their balance sheets of bad debts.
Oni was accompanied by the Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Mr. Bisi Onasanya;  Managing Director of  Access Bank Plc, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imokhuede; Managing Director of Citibank, Mr. Emeka Emuwa;  and Managing Director of Sterling Bank, Mr. Yemi Adeola.
“I want to emphasise that the Code of Corporate Governance as we have it is still valid. The tenure as defined in that code is a maximum of four years of a cumulative three terms. However, we tried to be dynamic in the way we look at people that are appointed as directors of the banks.
“There will be a continuous assessment of their performance, which is clearly stated in the Code; that reassessment is going to be done after every two or three years. That is like a certification process, which will show how they are performing and guiding the banks,” Oni said.
He stressed that it  was  the responsibility of the directors to ensure that their institutions were run professionally pointing out that, that was why it was important that on a periodic basis,  their activities are evaluated,
However,  Adeola said  the two per cent loan provisioning requirement had been expunged from the Prudential Guidelines, given the current economic realities .
He said: “We took another look at the guidelines, and we realised the need to effect a few amendments. In fact, the Bankers’ Committee has agreed on the urgent need to expunge the provision that makes it mandatory for banks to set aside two percent of their loan portfolio.
 Aig-Imoukhuode argued that it  was not the responsibility of banks to provide the basic amenities required by small scale enterprises to blossom.
The bank chief noted that the commercial banks  were striving hard  to ensure that financing was  available, adding: “We can confidently say that right now financing is not the issue. One of the concerns of the bankers committee is that a lot of work has to be done by various agencies of government to put in place an enabling environment for these operators to progress.”
In his contribution, Onasanya disclosed that  the bankers’ committee at yesterday’s  meeting  called for the evaluation of the three consortiums that won the bid to operate off-site Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). This he said, was with a view to ensuring  that they provide better services  to the  banking public.